When perhaps the most reserved head football coach in the Coachella Valley begins hollering in excitement, you know something special is happening.

That was Ron Shipley after Shadow Hills High School’s 55-16 pounding of Hemet High on Friday. It wasn’t just another win, and the Knights head coach knew it.

“We just made more history, guys,” Shipley told his team, smiling. “First team at Shadow Hills to start 5-0.”

It was safe to wonder if Shadow Hills was for real entering this game. They’d beaten all four of their opponents handily, but the schedule wasn’t exactly Murderer’s Row. The teams were collectively 1-13 through the first four weeks of the season.

Hemet, the fifth-ranked team in Division 11, was to be the Knights’ first real test, and Shadow Hills looked like a class above the entire game, even without star running back Lee Hawkins and after losing starting quarterback Hunter Brooks with a right wrist injury in the first quarter.

“To come out and lose our starting quarterback and still do that,” Shipley told his players, “that says a lot about this football team.”

Without Hawkins and Brooks, senior Kevin Johnson took control of the offense. He ran for a career-high 320 yards and five rushing touchdowns, threw a 40-yard pass to teammate Matthew Kelsey for another score, and returned an interception one yard shy of another touchdown.

Defensively, the Knights were rock solid through the first three quarters with their starting lineup. Shadow Hills ultimately allowed 145 yards of total offense, 70 of which came on one play for a score. The Knights also forced three turnovers.

The extent of Brooks’ injury is unknown. Though the offense didn’t seem to miss much of a beat without him, his presence in the lineup could be critical moving forward.

Hawkins, who injured his left foot, said he will begin physical therapy this week in the hopes of playing in the next game, against Palm Desert to open league play Sept. 28.

Shadow Hills' Trey Webb looks to avoid a Hemet defender in the first half on Friday.(Photo11: Brandon Magpantay/Special to The Desert Sun)

“I’m hoping to make it back,” Hawkins said. “It’ll also be my senior year Homecoming, so I’ve got to play.”

The Knights and Aztecs, both now 5-0, will both be in the hunt for the inaugural Desert Empire League title.

Shadow Hills, the top-ranked team in Division 10, also has its sights set on a CIF title.

Shipley, the typically stoic head coach, still couldn’t hide his excitement after a win that in some ways legitimizes those aspirations.

“It starts for real now,” Shipley said with his players hollering around him. “We’re playing for a championship.”